What's New

The
California State Transportation Agency is now accepting applications for the
next round of Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP) awards and the
first round of State Rail Assistance (SRA) Programs awards. These grants
combined will provide about $2.5 billion over the next five years to transit
and rail operators across the state.

By
statute, the next round of TIRCP will be a five-year program. Project
applications will be due in January of 2018. Senate Bill 1 (SB 1), the landmark
transportation infrastructure bill signed by Governor Brown in April, will
provide $7.6 billion in new transit funding over the next decade. With SB
1 funding and base funding from California Climate Investments, the five-year
program is anticipated to be $2.4 billion. The competitive program aims to
increase ridership on the statewide transit and rail network and reduce
greenhouse gas emissions.

Eligible
applicants include public agencies that operate existing or planned intercity
rail, commuter passenger rail, urban rail transit, bus, ferry, or vanpool
services. Applicants may also partner with other transit operators to provide
better integrated service across two or more providers.

All
projects must demonstrate that they will achieve a reduction in greenhouse gas
emissions in order to be eligible. Grant recipients must also show benefits
such as improved transit ridership, integration with other rail and transit
systems, including high-speed rail, and improved rail safety. The program has a
goal of providing at least 25 percent of benefits to disadvantaged communities
in California, and last year more than 95 percent of project funds were awarded
to projects that benefited disadvantaged communities.

TIRCP
applications must be submitted electronically to tircpcomments@dot.ca.gov by January
12, 2018. The Transportation Agency will announce the grant recipients by April
30, 2018.

Senate
Bill 1 created the State Rail Assistance Program by directing a portion of new
revenue specifically to intercity rail and commuter rail. This revenue is
estimated to be $25 million in 2017-18, $39 million in 2018-19, and $41 million
in 2019-20. The majority of program funding is directed by statutory
formula to rail operators, with guidelines defining process and timeline for
agencies to obtain funding. The applications requested in this round facilitate
access to formula determined funding levels.

SRA
applications must be submitted electronically to SRA@calsta.ca.gov by December 15, 2017 to be
considered for initial funding receipt in February 2018. Applications received
at a later date will be considered on a rolling basis. Initial project
approvals will be announced by the Transportation Agency by January 31, 2018.

The
TIRCP official Call for Projects, with detailed information about application
requirements, is located here. Program Guidelines are located here.

The SRA
Guidelines, with detailed information about program requirements, are located here.